Foulston Law Office is investigating and filing cases nationwide on behalf of persons who have suffered a bleeding event while on the drug Xarelto. Xarelto is a blood thinning drug manufactured and marketed through a joint venture between Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson and Johnson subsidiary). The drug was introduced to compete with the most popular blood thinner on the market Warfarin (a/k/a "Coumadin").
Xarelto is often prescribed to patients that suffer from the heart condition Atrial Fibrillation ("A-Fib") to reduce the risks of developing a blood clotting event such as a stroke. In other instances, the drug is prescribed to patients who have suffered from deep vein thrombosis ("DVT") or pulmonary embolism ("PE") for prevention of a recurrence. It is also used post-operatively in patients undergoing major surgeries of the hip, knee or pelvis commonly associated with high risk of DVT or PE.
The main benefit advertised by the developers of Xarelto is that, unlike its competitor Warfarin, Xarelto does not require periodic blood-work monitoring. For example, patients on Warfarin have their clotting abilities monitored through routine blood tests. These tests are a proactive effort to achieve an appropriate therapeutic level of the drug, and to catch a sudden change in clotting abilities before dangerous clots form or drug-induced bleeds occur. Xarelto's makers claim blood-work monitoring is not required for their drug -- which is referred to in their marketing materials as the "Xarelto Difference." Not only is monitoring possible with Xarelto but critical because no antidote exists to reverse the drug’s effects.
Unlike Warfarin, which can be reversed with Vitamin K, there is no way to reverse the effects of Xarelto during a bleeding event or emergency. The developers of Xarelto fail to adequately disclose this important information. A patient experiencing a Xarelto bleeding event will not respond to Vitamin K treatment. A Xarelto victim's only options are typically unsuccessful blood transfusions or dialysis procedures or to simply wait it out until the Xarelto leaves the system. Many patients do not have that kind of time.
After Xarelto's first year of promotion and sales, the "reported" adverse events to the FDA had nearly triple the number of deaths than that of Warfarin in the same year. As a result of the lack of development toward an antidote and routine blood-work monitoring guidelines, these adverse events and tragedies are and will remain the reality for Xarelto consumers.
The Foulston Law Office believes that the failure to monitor a drug with a known risk of bleeding and selling a drug without an antidote to stop a bleeding event is extremely reckless. We are taking cases for any patient on Xarelto who was hospitalized for any period of time due to a bleeding event or cases involving a death caused by uncontrolled bleeding. For further information please call our office.